Editing Onycha (section)

==Contenders for the identity of onycha==
===Operculum===
{{main|Operculum (gastropod)|Unguis odoratus}}
Some writers believe that onycha was ''[[Unguis odoratus]]'', the fingernail-like [[Operculum (gastropod)|operculum]], or trap door, of certain [[sea snail]]s, such as ''[[Strombus lentiginosus]]'', ''[[Murex anguliferus]]'', and ''[[Onyx marinus]]''. It may be the operculum of a snail-like mollusk found in the Red Sea.<ref>Onycha, Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2008</ref> This operculum is the trap door of a shell, called by the [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latins]] ''Conchylium''. These opercula may be of different sizes, but their overall shape is that of a claw, which is the origin of the name ''Unguis odoratus''. The name ''Blatta Byzantina'' is occasioned by its having usually been imported from [[Constantinople]], the ancient [[Byzantium]]. In antiquity the operculum was used as an ingredient in incense. The Babylonian Talmud recorded that onycha was rubbed with an [[alkali]] solution prepared from the bitter [[vetch]] to remove impurities,<ref name="Rambam on Maaser Sheni 2:4">Rambam on Maaser Sheni 2:4</ref> it was then soaked in the fermented berry juice of the [[Caper]] shrub,<ref name="Talmub Babli">Babli, Keritut:6a</ref> or a strong [[white wine]], in order to enhance its fragrance. 

Although it was forgotten in the West after the fall of the [[Roman Empire]], Murex opercula are still commonly used as an ingredient in traditional North African and Middle Eastern bakhoor (granulated [[incense]]), traditional Indian ''choya nakh'' [[attar]] (produced by [[dry distillation]] of Murex opercula <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nongmaithem |first1=Bijayalakshmi Devi |last2=Mouatt |first2=Peter |last3=Smith |first3=Joshua |last4=Rudd |first4=David |last5=Russell |first5=Michael |last6=Sullivan |first6=Caroline |last7=Benkendorff |first7=Kirsten |title=Volatile and bioactive compounds in opercula from Muricidae molluscs supports their use in ceremonial incense and traditional medicines |journal=Scientific Reports |date=12 December 2017 |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=17404 |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-17551-3|pmid=29234065 |pmc=5727037 |bibcode=2017NatSR...717404N }}</ref>), and quite substantively in East Asian incense.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kyarazen.com/de-mystifying-onycha/ |title=De-mystifying Onycha |date=23 February 2016}}</ref> From this perspective, some argue that this is the most likely source of onycha.

===Labdanum===
{{main|Labdanum}}
There is some doubt as to whether the onycha of the Hebrew Bible was the operculum of a sea snail.<ref>Encyclopedia of Bible Plants (F Nigel Hepper 1992)</ref> H. J. Abrahams says, "The widely held mollusk hypothesis becomes quite perplexing if one considers that the mollusk was counted among the unclean animals in the Bible (Leviticus 11:9 and 12)."<ref>Abrahams, H.J. - Onycha, Ingredient of the Ancient Jewish Incense: An attempt at identification, Econ. Bot. 33(2): 233-6 1979</ref> Sea creatures such as the mollusk were an “abomination” and even their carcasses were to be considered an “abomination”<ref>Lev. 11:10-12</ref> and anyone simply touching them became unclean.<ref>11:24</ref> [[Bahya ben Asher]] (d. 1340) insisted that only kosher species may be used for the [[mishkan]]. The [[Gemara]] states that “only items that one may eat may be used for the work of Heaven.”<ref>Shabbos 28a</ref> [[Nachmanides]], Torah scholar and famed Jewish theologian, emphasized that the commandment concerning unclean animals pertained also to temple services.<ref>Abrahams, HJ, Pg 234</ref> James Strong and J. McClintoch write that “it seems improbable that any such substance could have been one of the constituent spices of the most holy perfume; not only because we know of none bearing any powerful and agreeable odor, but specially because all marine creatures that were not finned and scaled fishes were unclean, and as such could not have been touched by the priests or used in the sanctuary.”<ref name="ReferenceA">Cyclopaedia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature, Volume 7, by James Strong John McClintock</ref><ref>Kumph, A mboinischeRaritdten-Kammer, cap. xvii, p. 48 (the German ed. Vienna, 1706); and comp. also Sprcngel, Comment, ad Dioscor. ii, 10; Forskal, Desc.Anim. p. 143 ("Unguis odoratus"); Phiios. Transactions, xvii, 641; Johnston, Introd. to ConchoL p. 77; Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 1388</ref> Bahr states that “the odor of the burned shells is not pleasant.”<ref>Symbol, i, 422</ref> 

Although the word onycha has been interpreted as meaning "nail", it is pointed out that nail or claw is an extended connotation of onyx,{{Citation needed|reason=Well recognized dictionary of Ancient Greek, Liddell-Scott-Jones, presents as a primary meaning of onyx (onycha) talons, claws (in Homer), nail, hoof - thus not a gemstone.<ref>Henry George Liddell. Robert Scott. A Greek-English Lexicon. revised and augmented throughout by. Sir Henry Stuart Jones. with the assistance of. Roderick McKenzie. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1940. s. v. ὄνυξ</ref>|date=March 2023}} derived from the translucent and sometimes veined appearance of the gemstone onyx which antiquity often describes as a black stone.<ref name="Abrahams, H.J">Abrahams, H.J.</ref> Coincidentally onycha is the Greek word which was chosen to replace the original Hebrew word which was shecheleth.<ref name="Abrahams, H.J"/> One of the Hebrew words that ''shecheleth'' seems to be related to, '''שחלים''', ''sh'chalim'', refers to a large variety of plants.<ref>James L. Carroll, Elizabeth Siler, "Let My Prayer Be Set Before Thee: The Burning of Incense in the Temple Cult of Ancient Israel"</ref> An ancient Ugaritic text lists onycha among types of vegetables, implying that onycha was a vegetable also.<ref>James L. Carroll, Elizabeth Siler</ref> The Talmud specifically states that although onycha (''shecheleth'') is not from a tree, it does grow from the ground and that it is a plant (Kerithoth 6b).<ref name="ReferenceB">Abrahams, H.J. - Onycha, Ingredient of the ancient Jewish incense: An attempt at identification in Econ. Bot. 33(2): 233-6 1979</ref> There is also some doubt that a mollusk would have been referred to as a "sweet spice" in Exodus 30, since it is the shell of a creature and not an aromatic or pungent vegetable substance.<ref>Exodus 30:34b</ref> Condor writes “''Shecheleth'', Exod. xxx. 34; [is] rendered by the Septuagint, ''onycha'', and by the Arabic version, ladana . . . The root of the Hebrew word means to drop or distil, and ''shecheleth'' would seem, therefore, to mean some exudation.”
<ref name="ReferenceC">Josiah Conder. The modern traveller (Volume 7)</ref> James Strong writes "the Syriac etymology of the word, namely, to run in drops, exude, distil, would lead to the idea of a resinous and odoriferous substance of the vegetable kingdom."<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Another writer says “the context and the etymology seem to require the gum of some aromatic plant, perhaps gum-ladanum. The Hebrew word would seem to mean something that exuded, having odorous qualities.”<ref name=Hagensick>Hagensick, Carl, Beauties of the Truth, Volume 4, Number 2, May 1993</ref> "Shecheleth" identifies with the Syriac "shehelta" which is translated as “a tear, distillation, or exudation."

According to Winifred Walker's All the Plants of the Bible, ''shecheleth'' is a form of [[rock rose]] (also known as the ''Rose of Sharon''), [[Cistus ladaniferus]] var. [[Cistus creticus]], which produces a resin called [[labdanum]].<ref name="Walker, Winifred 1979">Walker, Winifred, "All the Plants of the Bible,"Doubleday & Company (October 1979)</ref> This sweet spicy ingredient has been used in perfumes and incense for thousands of years and grows profusely in the Middle East, specifically in Israel and Palestine. The rock rose is a bush, not a tree (the Talmud states that onycha comes from a ground plant and not a tree)
<ref name="Kerithoth 6b">Kerithoth 6b</ref> which bears flowers widely noted for the markings upon its petals resembling human fingernails. Labdanum is the gray-black resin that exudes from the branches of the rock rose bush. Labdanum, after it matures, becomes black and is referred to as black amber or black balsam.<ref>Chemical abstracts, Volume 13, By American Chemical Society, Chemical Abstracts Service, pg.2104</ref> Gill states that the word "shecheleth is certainly related to the Hebrew word ''shechor'' (black)," denoting the color of the shecheleth used in the ketoret formula.<ref>[[Gil Marks]] {{Cite web | url=http://www.gilmarks.com/1215.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521203027/http://www.gilmarks.com/1215.html | archive-date=2012-05-21 | title=A unique examination of foods, plants, and animals in the bible}}</ref> Onycha is a play on the word onyx which was a gem. The onyx most esteemed by the ancients was the black gem.<ref>Cyclopaedia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature, James Strong, John McClintock</ref> The Hebrew word for onyx was shoham and “Braun traces shoham to the Arabic sachma,'blackness:' 'Of such a color,' says he, 'are the Arabian [onyxes], which have a black ground-color.' This agrees essentially with [[Charles William King]]'s remarks<ref>''Antique Gems'', p. 9.</ref> 'The Arabian species,' he says, 'were formed of black or blue strata.”<ref>Cyclopaedia of Biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature, Volume 7, by James Strong, John McClintock</ref> The rock rose also has an inseparable identification with rocks because its existence depends upon its roots anchoring among them in areas where no other foliage is able to grow. After labdanum became hard it may have been put through another process causing it to emulate even more of the "beautiful"<ref>Jacobs, Louis, The Jewish religion: a companion. pg. 266</ref> attributes of the onyx or to refine it, "that it be pleasant."<ref>Sutton, Rabbi Avraham, ''The Spiritual Significance of the Qetoret in Ancient Jewish Tradition''</ref> When used in sacred rites resins were often steeped in wine to, among other things, increase their fragrance.<ref>Natural History 12.19.</ref>

A reference to onycha as an annual plant<ref name="Kerithoth 6b"/> may be confusion with its annual yield. Rock rose usually produces labdanum annually, during the summer, to protect itself from the heat. A reference to onycha as a root<ref>KI SISA - RASHI COMMENTARY, Shemos Book 2: Exodus</ref> may be due to the practice of boiling the twigs and roots for labdanum extraction<ref>Age-old Resins of the Mediterranean Region and Their Uses, FN Howes - Economic Botany</ref><ref>Gray, Samuel Frederick, A Supplement to the Pharmacopœia and Treatise on Pharmacology in General, pg. 205</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.naturalhealthcrafters.com/essentialoils/ambreine.html | title=Ambreine Absolute | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120818223600/http://www.naturalhealthcrafters.com/essentialoils/ambreine.html | archive-date=2012-08-18}} (Second paragraph)</ref> or the use of cistus roots as a medicine. The root of the Cistus plant is a Jordanian traditional medicine.<ref>A Survey of Plants Used in Jordanian Traditional Medicine, 1995, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 317-323, Suleiman Al-Khalil, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan</ref> The root is still used today by the Arabs for bronchitis and also as a pectorial, demulcent, tonic, and anti-diabetic.<ref>Palynological analyses of resinuous materials from the roman mummy of Grottarossa, second century A.D.: a new hypothesis about the site of mummification L. Ciuffarella, aDipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, Università degli Studi di Roma `La Sapienza', P.le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy</ref> Then again the possibility exists that while the onycha of Exodus 30 was labdanum, the identity of onycha may have been lost some time during or after the Babylonian captivity, with the operculum becoming identified as onycha during the time of the second Temple. However, as the original onycha of the book of Exodus, Abrahams says that, more than any other substance, "labdanum fills the bill most convincingly."<ref>Abrahams, Onycha..., pg.236</ref>

The flowers of the rockrose bush are described as having petals with scarlet and black fingernail-shaped markings, thus its historically acclaimed connection with the Greek ονυξ (= onyx).<ref>Studia Antiqua: The Journal of the Student Society for Ancient Studies, Fall 2002, Volume 2, Number 2</ref> Lynne writes, “Onycha . . . is a rockrose which produces a gum that is known as labdanum. The blossoms are about three inches across, white with at the base of each petal a blotch of brilliant scarlet-rose which deepens into black. In Greek onycha means 'fingernail.' The blotch of color in each petal looks exactly like a brightly painted red fingernail.”<ref>Lynne, Mary, Galaxy of Scents: The Ancient Art of Perfume Making</ref> Others proclaim that the very petals of this plant are shaped like finger nails.<ref>Histrenact, Historical Reenactment Database</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=http://bible.ort.org/books/glosd1.asp?ACTION=displayletter&char=79&cat=3 | title=Onycha | access-date=2010-06-12 | archive-date=2010-07-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706085436/http://bible.ort.org/books/glosd1.asp?ACTION=displayletter&char=79&cat=3 | url-status=dead}}</ref> Again, onycha in Greek means “fingernail” or “claw.” Claws were used in ancient Egypt to collect labdanum. Pharaohs were pictured with this claw (a [[crook and flail|nekhakha]]) resting on their breasts.<ref>Newberry, Percy E., The Shepherds "Crook" and the So-Called "Flail" or "Scourge" of Osiris</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 3854018|title = The Shepherd's Crook and the So-Called "Flail" or "Scourge" of Osiris|journal = The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology|volume = 15|issue = 1/2|pages = 84–94|last1 = Newberry|first1 = Percy E|doi = 10.2307/3854018|year = 1929}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://labdanum-creta.blogspot.com/2006/05/crook-and-flail-in-ancient-egypt.html |title = Labdanum or ladanum of Cistus Incanus Creticu / Cistus Incanus Tea from Crete.: The Crook and Flail in Ancient Egypt|date = 22 June 2006}}</ref> Claws, or rakes, were used to collect the labdanum from the cistus bushes and smaller claws, or combs, were used to collect labdamun from the beards of the wild goats.<ref>Rhind, William, A history of the vegetable kingdom: embracing the physiology of plants</ref> Removing and peeling the very sticky, adhesive labdanum from these very temperamental animals caused them to cry out, to “peel out by the concussion of sound,” or to “roar” out in protest. As mentioned above the original Hebrew word for onycha was '''שחלת''', ''shecheleth'', which comes from a root meaning "to roar" or “peeling off by concussion of sound." In Aramaic, the root SHCHL signifies “retrieve.” For thousands of years labdanum has been retrieved from the beards of goats and the wool of lambs by this method. The resin was peeled off of the goats’ beards, lambs’ wool, and from the lambadistrion (labdanum-gatherer). The Arabic word for peel is sahala. The Pharaoh’s beard was made up of goats’ hair<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buffaloah.com/a/archsty/egypt/illus/illus.html |title = Illustrated Dictionary of Egyptian Mythology}}</ref><ref>Newberry, PE, The Shepherd's Crook and the So-Called" Flail" or" Scourge" of Osiris, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 1929, pg. 10</ref> which was held together and scented by labdanum.<ref>Newberry, PE, The Shepherd's Crook and the So-Called" Flail" or" Scourge" of Osiris, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 1929, pg.9</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bojensen.net/EssentialOilsEng/EssentialOils15/EssentialOils15.htm |title = Essential oils}}</ref> When the royal kingly Pharaoh spoke it was as the lion's “roar,” the voice of god to the people. The Pharaoh was called the "incarnation of Atum."<ref>Myśliwiec, Karol, The twilight of ancient Egypt: first millennium B.C.E., pg. 12.</ref> Massy writes that, "The lion was a zootype of Atum . . . He is called the lion-faced in the Ritual . . . He is addressed as a lion god, the god in lion form."<ref>Massey, Gerald, Ancient Egypt - The Light of the World: A Work of Reclamation And Restitution In Twelve Books</ref> Pharaohs were often depicted as part human and part lion wearing the false beard saturated with labdanum. This beard was inspired by the lion's mane and was part of the various sphinx depicting the Pharaohs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aldokkan.com/society/pharaoh.htm |title = Egyptian Pharaohs}}</ref> A sphinx of Pharaoh Hatsheput displays a lion's mane and the pharaoh's manufactured beard.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.art.com/products/p15439682-sa-i3746638/kenneth-garrett-as-a-sphinx-hatshepsut-displays-a-lions-mane-and-a-pharaohs-beard.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613193048/http://www.art.com/products/p15439682-sa-i3746638/kenneth-garrett-as-a-sphinx-hatshepsut-displays-a-lions-mane-and-a-pharaohs-beard.htm |archive-date=2011-06-13 |title=As a sphinx, Hatshepsut displays a lion's mane and a pharaoh's beard Photographic Print by Kenneth Garrett at Art.com}}</ref> Strong defines the root word of ''shecheleth'' as "to roar; a lion (from his characteristic roar)."<ref>Strong's Exhaustive Concordence, Hebrew # 7827 & #7826</ref> Labdanum was used not only as a perfume and adhesive for the Pharaohs beard but was also used by the Egyptian art of the apothecary in an incense known as [[kyphi]] which was rolled into small balls and burned upon coals of fire. However labdanum could also be an ingredient of a powdered incense. When aged it becomes more fragrant<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.essentiallyoils.com/Newsletters/2000/April_2000_Newsletter/april_2000_newsletter.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526141405/http://www.essentiallyoils.com/Newsletters/2000/April_2000_Newsletter/april_2000_newsletter.html |archive-date=2006-05-26 |title=April 2000 Newsletter}}</ref> but it also becomes very brittle<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rs1064991.html | title=cistus ladaniferus gum | website=www.thegoodscentscompany.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://classroom.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Labdanum | title=Labdanum |  archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707112459/http://classroom.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Labdanum | archive-date=2011-07-07 }}</ref> and hard.<ref>King's American Dispensatory, 1898, by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D</ref> The fresh resin is a soft, sticky, and tar-like substance that is sweet, flowery, musky, and reminiscent of honey or ambergris with a hint of sweet leather. Mendes writes that at one point Rabban Simeon, the son of Gamliel, seems to indicate that one of the reasons wine was used was to make onycha become hard,<ref>Mendes, Abraham Pereira, Prayers for the Intermediate Days on the Tabernacles</ref> which would seem to suggest that onycha was not a preexistingly hard mollusk shell, but that onycha was a soft resinous material such as is labdanum. Herodotus affirms that it was much used by the Arabians in perfumes.<ref>Natural History Bible; or, description all quadrupeds, birds, fishes [&c.] mentioned Sacred scriptures, THADDEUS MASON HARRIS, D.D.</ref> According to [[Pliny the Elder]] (23 - 79 CE), who mentions its fragrant smell, it was the extract of an herb called " ladan."<ref>Natural History Bible; or, Description of All Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes [&c.] Mentioned in the Sacred scriptures, Collected From the Best Authorities, and Alphabetically Arranged by Thaddeus Mason Harris, D.D. of Dorchester, Massachusetts</ref><ref>N. H. 1. xii. c. 17</ref> Labdanum was known as "Arabic ladan."<ref>O'Dowd, Michael J., The history of medications for women: materia medica woman, pg. 165</ref>

According to the book of Exodus the Israelites were familiar with the ancient art of the apothecary (or perfumery) of the Egyptians from whom they had just been liberated. Lucas lists labdanum (along with frankincense, myrrh, galbanum, and storax) among the only materials most certain to have been used in ancient Egypt and that labdanum "was abundant in the countries bordering the Mediterranean with which Egypt had intercourse.”<ref>Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, pp.114-115, By A. Lucas</ref> He writes that in the Bible “ it is stated that certain merchants carried ladanum into Egypt from Gilead (Genesis, xxxvii:25, Revised Version) and that Jacob sent ladanum to Egypt as a present to his son Joseph (Genesis, xliii:II Revised Version).”<ref>Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, pg.116, By A. Lucas</ref> [[Percy Newberry]] reports that the ancient Egyptians were acquainted with labdanum as early as the 1st century.<ref>P.E. Newberry, in Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, xv (1929), pg.94</ref> Pliny states that the Ptolemies introduced labdanum into 'the parts beyond Egypt.”<ref>XII:37</ref> It was known to the Greeks as early as the times of Herodotus (484-425 BCE)<ref>Book 3, Chapters 107-82, The History of Herodotus, George Rawlinson, ed. and tr., vol. 2 (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1885)</ref> and Theophrastus (370 - 285 BCE). It was one of the ingredients in a remedy in the ancient Egyptian Materia Medica,<ref>French Observations of Disease and Drug Use in Late Eighteenth Century, by J ESTES - 1984 -</ref> and in an ancient Egyptian papyrus dated 1500 BCE it is used along with hippopotamus fat, as a cure for dandruff.<ref>Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1939 - 1941. 01-02/1940, 025-7, Beauty Formula from Egyptians Papyrus 1500 B.C.</ref> Labdanum was “often made into incense cakes for temple offerings as well as used as a fixative in perfumes.<ref>The Cosmetic and Perfume Practices of the Ancient Egyptians: Part 2-The Ingredients, by Aimee Bova</ref> Lucas records an “instance of labdanum having been found in connection with ancient Egypt [which] is a specimen of Coptic incense of the seventh century from Faras near Wadi Halfa.<ref>A. Lucas, Preservative Materials used by the Ancient Egyptians in Embalming, pp. 31-2</ref>

Martin Luther, in co-operation with Bible expert and Greek scholar Philipp Melanchton, rejected the operculum theory in favor of onycha being a plant product.<ref>Abrahams, JH, pg. 234</ref> A commentary footnote in one of the older copies of the Authorized Version seems to agree saying, “The only hint about the onycha that we can find is in the Arabic version, where we meet with ladana, suggesting . . . gum-ladanum.”<ref>The Holy Bible: According to the Authorized Version, with Original Notes, and the Subjects of Natural History, Costume, and Antiquities from the Best Sources . . . Volume 1, London C. Knight, 22, Ludgate Street, MDCCCXXXVI</ref> The Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible plainly defines onycha as the “gum resin obtained from . . . the rockrose, also known as labdanum.<ref>[https://www.angelfire.com/sc3/wedigmontana/Plantsp4.html#R Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible], H. Lockyer Sr., F.F. Bruce, R.K. Harrison. I.D.B., Plants of the Bible (under onycha)</ref>

Bochartus, a scholar of profound erudition possessing a thorough knowledge of the principal Oriental languages, including Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic, argued that onycha was labdanum. It is claimed “Bochartus proves, by many arguments, [onycha ] to be ladanum”
<ref>A Synopsis of Criticisms Upon Those Passages of the Old Testament in Which Modern Commentators Have Differed From the Authorized Version: Together With ... in the Hebrew English Texts V.2 Pt.2 by Richard Arthur Francis Barrett</ref><ref>Rimmel, Eugene, The book of perfumes (MDCCCLXV)</ref><ref>A dictionary of the natural history of the Bible:
By Thaddeus Mason Harris</ref>

Abrahams writes that "the Hebrew name ''shecheleth'' was translated as ladana, giving rise to labdanum."<ref>Lis-Balchin, Maria, Aromatherapy science: a guide for healthcare professionals</ref> The renowned Jewish scholar and writer [[Saadya]] (Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon, 882-942), born in Upper Egypt (Fayum) and educated in Fustat (Old Cairo), translated the Bible into Arabic. Saadya, who was a theologian as well as the head Rabbi at the Sura Academy,<ref>{{Cite web | title=Saadya [Saadiah] | via=Sanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy | url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/saadya/}}</ref> was equally versed in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Arabic, and knew the people and customs of the whole Arabic region intimately. Saadya's translation for Shecheleth was the Arabic "Ladana," and ladana is our ladanum or labdanum.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> H.J. Abrahams states that "I am sure that ''Shecheleth'' (onycha) is a plant product . . . After diligent reflection on all these diverse options, there is little doubt in my mind that onycha of Exodus 30:34 is labdanum. Saadya's labdanum is not only ideally suited for use in incense, but it is also a product of the Jewish homeland."<ref name="Abrahams, H.J"/>